Sikh Group Planning Protest Of Gap Ad At Davis Store

DAVIS (CBS13) — An ad featuring a bearded Sikh man in a turban accompanied by a sexy young woman is generating controversy among area Sikhs.

A protest is being organized on Facebook at the Davis Gap store on Thursday. Organizers hope to have 300 people protest the ad, which they say features “a woman’s hand lustfully placed on [a man’s] turban and chest.”

Karm Bains of Bains Ranches in Yuba City has a different perspective on the ad.

“I don’t find it offensive,” he said. “I think they did a great job.”

In fact, he hopes to see more ads like it, saying it wipes away Sikh stereotypes and prejudices that have plagued his community for generations.

“To be accepted as who we are I think speaks volumes,” he said.

He believes Thursday’s protesters will be missing the big picture, and says the Sikh male model and Gap stores are trailblazers.

“I’m fourth-generation here,” he said. “I knew what my forefathers had to do for us to be accepted. So when I drive around town or into San Francisco, off the Bay Bridge, and that’s the first billboard I see, I think that’s awesome.”